Complain, complain

It's a little funny that Luis was listening to an argument centered on the idea that the power in U.S. Soccer is too centralized.

That's because, meanwhile, I've been fielding a series of emails from ardent fans of the U.S. men's national team who are firmly convinced that U.S. Soccer's administration is hancuffed by the tiered structure of the organization - that it gives far too much power to different factions, especially the youth programs and the women, and that those in charge are basically impotent figureheads who are unable to focus the resources exactly where they are needed - namely, on the men's team.

They've sent me Excell charts of how they believe the finances break down, hinted at shadowy power brokers behind the scenes, and claim that Sunil Gulati was denied in his quest to bring in Jurgen Klinsmann because the German would have toppled the whole structure.

In fact, the USSF has streamlined the organization, partly due to the recommendations from a landmark independent study done back when Gulati's predecessor, Robert Contigulia, was in charge.

Would Chinaglia want to return to the days of a 40-member board?

The problem with a medium center point solution is that too often, both sides on the extreme end believe they have been equally wronged, are bitter about the outcome, and determined to attack the end result.